There has been a lot of criticism of Ferrari following the Spanish Grand Prix. There are a lot of rumors circulating about how Ferrari may be stretching the regulations. But it’s important to note that during the race, Mercedes did break the regulations and not get in trouble for it. In fact, it may have been something that caused Ferrari to make the late pit stop under the virtual safety car.
When the VSC was deployed, Lewis Hamilton was 20 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, in the sole remaining Ferrari, was a few seconds clear of Valtteri Bottas. During the VSC, there was a lot of activity in the Mercedes garage, with the TV broadcast showing the Mercedes crew waiting with the tyres out and ready to go.
Here’s where there is a bit of uncertainty. From the television broadcast, it sounds like the Ferrari mechanics were first to setup at their pit box and then Mercedes responded to that. However, there was no video footage of the team garages at that time, so there is no visual evidence.
Even though both teams were in their respective pit boxes, only Ferrari pitted. Mercedes did not pit Bottas, as originally expected. So, the mechanics returned to the garage. However, this is technically against the regulations.
Article 28.12 of the 2018 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations clearly states that: “Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete.”
The issue is that this regulation is never enforced. Racing Clothesline reported on how Mercedes did this back at the 2015 British Grand Prix and various other teams have done the same thing without penalty. If it is enforced, the regulation could prevent teams from faking other teams into making a pit stop.
Since it’s never enforced, it’s justified that Mercedes didn’t get penalized for it. However, it’s still technically a rule violation.
